Benson, Urlacher reportedly skip Bears voluntary workout

[adam]

Urlacher was expected, but Benson. Does this push him down the charts?

Cedric Benson has been tackling a big off-field issue, but he was supposed to get back on the gridrion on Monday.

According to a report on the Chicago Tribune Web site, the Bears running back was missing from the start of the team's voluntary organized team activities. He was expected to attend.

 

Linebacker Brian Urlacher also skipped the sessions, as expected, in an effort to secure a new contract from the team.

 

Benson was charged with drunken boating and resisting arrest stemming from a May 3 incident on Lake Travis, near Austin, Texas. His boat was stopped for a safety check.

 

The Tribune reported that Adrian Peterson received the repetitions with the Bears first-team offense on Monday.

 

Meanwhile, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Benson's court appearance, scheduled for Monday, was rescheduled for June 30. He will not have to appear on that date.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?i...ce=NFLHeadlines

 

 

Also, Orton received majority of the reps with the 1st team:

 

Word is that Kyle Orton took the majority of the snaps with the first team at quarterback during the two-hour practice. The team has not laid out how it is going to orchestrate the competition between Orton and Rex Grossman, but one can assume that means Grossman will receive the majority of the snaps with the first team on Tuesday. Smith did announce on chicagobears.com “they are both coming into the competition on equal ground.”

 

With the first team at linebacker was a familiar face—Lance Briggs. He was running with the starters. In place of absent middle linebacker Brian Urlacher was Rod Wilson. Mike Brown lined up as the starter at free safety and Brandon McGowan was across from him at strong safety.

 

 

More on Benson:

 

No word on where Benson was. Attendance has never been an issue with him. He’s already missed a few days of the voluntary workout program after a delayed return from Texas following his arrest. If Benson has more than six absences, he will be required to repay the club $100,000, part of his signing bonus that was classified as workout pay.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2008/05/ot...sing_bears.html

[nfoligno]

Two things to point out.

 

One. He did have a hearing set for yesterday. While the Trib is saying it wasn't necessary for him to be at the hearing, his lawyer may have felt different.

 

Two. The Trib was very quick to say Benson missed a previous OTA, but Benson was in fact there, but simply in the offices talking to staff, and the Trib had to issue a quick 2nd article saying Benson was there. I'm not saying that is the case, only that the Trib is quick to throw things out there these days.

 

If Benson is not there today, I can see it as an issue, but missing yesterday when he had a first court date may not be an issue, unless of coarse he was on a boat:)

[sprout]

Yeah, I'm interested to hear why he missed. If he was in court, fine. Other than that, there aren't to many reasons he could have to miss that would seem acceptable.

 

For a lot of players these OTA's aren't always necessary. That's not the case with Benson. He has a job to win and more importantly, I think he needs to show the Bears (or the rest of the NFL) that he wants to play football, that he wants to be good.

 

Whether he was at fault on that boat or not, he should be going above and beyond to prove himself on and off the field. If he doesn't understand that, he'll never make it.

 

Two things to point out.

 

One. He did have a hearing set for yesterday. While the Trib is saying it wasn't necessary for him to be at the hearing, his lawyer may have felt different.

 

Two. The Trib was very quick to say Benson missed a previous OTA, but Benson was in fact there, but simply in the offices talking to staff, and the Trib had to issue a quick 2nd article saying Benson was there. I'm not saying that is the case, only that the Trib is quick to throw things out there these days.

 

If Benson is not there today, I can see it as an issue, but missing yesterday when he had a first court date may not be an issue, unless of coarse he was on a boat:)

[madlithuanian]

Unless it's for court, Benson is just digging a deepr hole for himself down the road.

 

...and just reading that makes me chuckle. THe only good reason to miss camp is going to your hearing for being drunk & disorderly...?

 

Urlacher was expected, but Benson. Does this push him down the charts?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?i...ce=NFLHeadlines

 

 

Also, Orton received majority of the reps with the 1st team:

 

 

 

 

More on Benson:

 

 

http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2008/05/ot...sing_bears.html

[selection7]

I have to believe the Bears want Benson to handle his law troubles maturely and as if it was important to him. I don't think we should fault him for missing to attend this hearing because I doubt the courts think football is as important as we do.